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AND THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE
THE CENTRAL FOCUS OF THE
TEACHING OF JESUS
PENNED BY: David Tait www.wwj.org.nz
Walking With Jesus Ministries Charitable Trust: As this material is freely received, use is
freely given, indeed encouraged, for non-commercial purposes.
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AND THE GREATEST OF THESE IS – LOVE
INDEX
3. 1. LOVE IS THE CHARACTER OF GOD
6. 2. WE ARE COMMANDED TO LOVE GOD IN RETURN
7. 3. THE ATTITUDE OF THE DENOMINATIONAL
CHURCH
8. 4. WE ARE ALSO COMMANDED TO LOVE OTHERS
9. 5. CAN WE BECOME 'LOVE'LY BY OURSELVES?
10. 6. GOOD WORKS AND LOVE ARE NOT NECESSARILY
THE SAME
13. 7. LOVE MUST CHANGE US
15. 8. LOVE CHANGES THOSE WE LOVE
17. 9. LOVE IS THE SOURCE OF UNITY
19. 10. LOVE IS THE KEY TO THE KINGDOM
23. CONCLUSION
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AND THE GREATEST OF THESE IS – LOVE
What is at the heart of the end time, kingdom church?
The answer is actually very simple in principle, if not so simple to
activate! For the answer is found in one word - LOVE…..
13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is
love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)
But what is love?
1. LOVE IS THE CHARACTER OF GOD
A good number of years ago now, I was in India, and asked to speak to a
woman's group on marriage! I tried 'running a mile' but that didn't work!
Even though I had been married 35 years at the time, I certainly didn't
feel competent to speak on the subject! LOL!
If all else fails, you have to rely on God! 'Please help me Lord', I pleaded.
And He did.
Of course, the normal starting point when you think of 'love is 1
Corinthians 13. And He took me there. But with a twist!
'David, I want you to show them my character, my character of love.
Change the word love for my name, and you will have a picture of the
ultimate marriage - of Jesus and the church.'
'But surely Lord, that is changing scripture.....'
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'Just do it!'
'Yes, Lord.'
So here it is. I just hope you find it as meaningful to you as it has been to
me. Verses 1-3 speak of us, the remainder, of God.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not God, I am only a
resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can
fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move
mountains, but have not God, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor
and surrender my body to the flames, but have not God, I gain nothing. 4 God
is patient, God is kind. He does not envy, He does not boast, He is not proud. 5
He is not rude, He is not self-seeking, He is not easily angered, He keeps no
record of wrongs. 6 God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 He
always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 God never
fails. (1 Corinthians 13:1-8a)
How is your heavenly marriage today?
PS: The ladies were blessed. Pheeeeeeeeeeeeew!!!
'Thank you Lord.'
Without God's love we would not be able to enter into a relationship with
Him. In, probably, the best known and 'loved' verse in the Bible.....
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever
believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
.....God's ultimate character of love is displayed. This confirmed in.....
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for
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us. (Romans 5:8)
....as well as many other places, expressed and implied, in both
Testaments. Check it out in your concordance or through 'Mr Google'!
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2. WE ARE COMMANDED TO LOVE GOD IN
RETURN
There are many verses that reflect this. Here are a few, from both the old
and the new covenants. From the Old Testament.....
Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps
covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his
commandments, to a thousand generations, (Deuteronomy 7:9)
I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me. (Proverbs
8:17)
.....and the New.
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:8)
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. (1 John 4:16b)
As we love God, so we develop the fruit of the Spirit.....
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
This is all pretty standard Christian teaching, although often not observed
in our behaviour. Therein lays crux of the matter!
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3. THE ATTITUDE OF THE DENOMINATIONAL
CHURCH
The reality is, the current denominational church system is based upon
theology. Differences between churches are found in their belief systems.
New denominations arise through either a new revelation from God or,
more often, from differences in what people believe to be the truth.
Unfortunately there are 30,000+ different versions of what is right!
Christianity then, is defined by what people believe rather than what they
do. This is the primary reason why it is so difficult to attract Jews and
Middle Eastern people in general, to the church, for their value system for
their value system is based upon actions rather than words.
If then we are to have a unified church, the bride of Christ for whom
Jesus is to return.....
6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing
waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God
Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the
wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. 8 Fine
linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the
righteous acts of God’s holy people.)
.....it is clear that the church has to be built upon righteous acts, rather
than 'right theology'!
This is the challenge for the church today.
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4. WE ARE ALSO COMMANDED TO LOVE OTHERS
As we love God, so we are commanded to love others.....
10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as
an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also
ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one
another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:10-12)
WOW! God is made complete in us through love! To become Jesus-like, to
become the holy and righteous bride for whom Jesus is returning.....
6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing
waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God
Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the
wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. 8 Fine
linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the
righteous acts of God’s holy people.) 9 Then the angel said to me, “Write this:
Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he
added, “These are the true words of God. (Revelation 19:6-9)
..... we have to reflect the love of God and others the Jesus reflected in
His life on earth! No ifs, no buts! If we desire to be part of the bride,
we…… MUST LIVE A LIFE OF LOVE.
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5. CAN WE BECOME 'LOVE'LY BY OURSELVES?
There are a few people, particularly ladies, who have an inborn nature of
showing an apparent godly like love to others. We can often regard these
ones within the church as 'natural Christians', but their love may really
come from their nature, their personality, rather than from God. For they
are able to be loving to others out of their own strength, rather than
God's.
The rest of us can try emulating them as much as we like, but no matter
how much we try in our human strength, it just doesn't work on an
ongoing basis. We get frustrated, particularly when those we are trying to
love reject us!
It leaves us disappointed both with them and with ourselves, for we feel
failures. Know the feeling?
There has to be an answer for, as we have seen, love is to is to be the
very centre of our 'walk with Jesus'.....
29 The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord
our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with
all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is
this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater
than these.” (Mark 12:29-31)
"Oh Lord, this is so hard! I give up!" Know the feeling?
FOR THE SOURCE OF OUR LOVE CANNOT COME FROM WITHIN,
BUT MUST COME FROM THE HEART OF GOD LIVING WITHIN US.
Human strength..... beating ourselves up when we fail..... simply fails!
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6. GOOD WORKS AND LOVE ARE NOT
NECESSARILY THE SAME
Interestingly, most Christians would say they are exhibiting love when
they are doing good works. But is this really the case?
There are many possible motivations in doing good works. Earning
brownie points with the pastor and people. Earning your ticket to heaven
through good works. Helping the community. Completing a programme.
Obligation. And many more.
Sadly, in spite of our good intentions, these motivations do not
necessarily reflect true Christian love. For true Godly love comes from a
heart of obedience to the Father's will.
John, the disciple who was closest to Jesus understood this principle well
and expresses it most succinctly.....
6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have
heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. (2 John 1:6)
and again.....
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. (John 14:15)
followed by.....
12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. (John 15:12)
and more.....
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20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I
am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves
me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them
and show myself to them.” (John 14:20-21)
As an aside, the book of John, of the four Gospels, has been primarily
written for the believer. If we truly want to find the Father heart of God, it
does well to absorb John's Gospel into the very core of our being.
Jesus was love personified. Both for His Father, and for us. This was
ultimately expressed in the cross.
From John again.....
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John
15:13)
My friend, love is ultimately expressed in obedience to the Father.
Obedience comes from listening to the Holy Spirit's voice - and putting
what He tells us into action! As we love God more, we here His voice
better, and He will show us how He wants us to express His love to
others.
It may well be in unexpected ways, quite likely outside our comfort zone!
One way the Lord uses me is to visit seriously sick people, in particular
those with cancer. Not all the time but the ones He chooses for me. This
is way outside my comfort zone, not naturally being an empathetic sort!
Ask my wife Kathy! LOL! But as I visit these ones more, He blesses them
while also changing me - slowly - more into the image of my precious
Jesus.
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The Father does not want to wear us out continually attending meetings,
fulfilling programmes and chasing good works. He wants us to spend time
with Him, then He, will guide us into the expressions of love He desires us
to show to our neighbour.
It is amazing, once we remove stress and misplaced obligation from our
loves, true love will more and more be reflected in both our personality
and our actions.
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7. LOVE MUST CHANGE US
One of the big differences between Jewish (and other Middle Eastern) and
Western cultures is the separation of what we say from what we do. Both
Jews and Muslims look at the 'Western Christianity' and will conclude that
we 'do not practice what we preach'. We talk about salvation, make
mental assent by saying the (unbiblical) 'Sinners Prayer', and then go on
living the same way as before and expect to live forever in perfect peace
and happiness for eternity! Too good to be true? Yes! It isn't true, and
most crusade 'converts' (round 95% it is believed) are not gracing a
church 5 years later.
Eastern people's belief system is integrated into their lifestyle. It is the
way of Jesus, for that is the understanding in which He taught and
ministered.
Without being theological, put simply, God is love, Jesus is love in the
image of His Father, and we are to be love, in the image of Jesus.
God made a covenant of love with His people, Israel.....
He said: “Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on
earth—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue
wholeheartedly in your way. (2 Chronicles 6:14)
Ooops! As the highlighted words (mine) say, there is a condition of the
covenant - we must love wholeheartedly, in order to receive god's love!
But that is Old Testament, David! Well..... no actually......
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:8)
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It is clear. If we do not live a life of love, we are not real followers of
Jesus.
It is hard word, a harsh reality, but it is the truth.
Until we develop genuine hearts of God (not human effort generated) love
we will not be able to effectively witness to Jews and Muslims, for to
them, as well as to others, 'actions speak louder than words'.
Something to think about - and seek the heart of God for?
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8. LOVE CHANGES THOSE WE LOVE
Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, just before He was arrested, prayed
to Hid Father for all believers - including you and me.....
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me
through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are
in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that
you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they
may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be
brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and
have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:20-23)
Paul expressed a similar sentiment.....
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another,
for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. (Romans 13:8)
Love is the distinguishing characteristic of the kingdom age. This is again
confirmed by Paul in the conclusion of the 'much loved', love Chapter in
Corinthians.....
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these
is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)
We have the HOPE of the salvation of Jesus, the FAITH generated by the
HOLY SPIRIT working in us, culminating in LOVE, both of God and of
others. In a church sense we move from the
TRADITIONAL/EVANGELICAL, centered upon Jesus, to the
PENTECOSTAL/CHARISMATIC streams, adding the anointing to the Holy
Spirit, to the greatest and final KINGDOM church, based upon love, love
of the Father expressed through obedience, and love of others.
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Loving God is not enough! We must love others also.
Others lives will be changed through God's love being expressed through
us.
Jesus set the example to us in His kingdom parable of the love - or lack of
it -shown to the man who was robbed and left on the side of the road.
The religious people passed by on the other side of the road. The 'good
Samaritan', considered a lower class person by the Jews, tended to the
man's needs.
Who would have had the most influence in the robbed man's life? The
religious people who looked down their noses at him, or the Samaritan
who attended to his needs? The answer is obvious.
To the religious man Jesus said.....
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:37b)
May we be obedient to the command of Jesus. It truly works!
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9. LOVE IS THE SOURCE OF UNITY
There are now 30,000+ denominations in the world, as we mentioned
earlier. We have seen over the past several hundred years since the
Reformation that unity in the church will never be achieved through the
denominational system.
Yet Jesus is returning for a single, a united, pure and holy bride.
7 Let us rejoice and shout for joy [exulting and triumphant]! Let us celebrate
and ascribe to Him glory and honor, for the marriage of the Lamb [at last] has
come, and His bride has prepared herself. 8 She has been permitted to dress in
fine (radiant) linen, dazzling and white—for the fine linen is (signifies,
represents) the righteousness (the upright, just, and godly living, deeds, and
conduct, and right standing with God) of the saints (God’s holy people).
(Revelation 19:7-8)
I would suggest to you, that the definition of righteousness (and holiness)
here (the upright, just, and godly living, deeds, and conduct, and right
standing with God) is impossible to attain to without God given love
coursing through our veins.
Holiness and righteousness must be built upon the foundation of love,
specifically, God given love. This is what the 'Love Chapter' of 1
Corinthians 13 is all about. We can have human love, caring for the poor
and needy, doing good works in human strength.....
3 Even if I dole out all that I have [to the poor in providing] food, and if I
surrender my body to be burned or in order that I may glory, but have not love
(God’s love in me), I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:3 AMP)
..... but fail to see God.
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All that endures is God given love.....
8 Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]. As
for prophecy (the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), it will be
fulfilled and pass away; as for tongues, they will be destroyed and cease; as for
knowledge, it will pass away [it will lose its value and be superseded by truth]. 9
For our knowledge is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect), and our prophecy
(our teaching) is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect). (1 Corinthians 13:8-
9)
We can have faith, we can have hope, both of which are great Christian
attributes, but the greatest God given gift is love.....
13 And so faith, hope, love abide [faith—conviction and belief respecting man’s
relation to God and divine things; hope—joyful and confident expectation of
eternal salvation; love—true affection for God and man, growing out of God’s
love for and in us], these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians
13:13)
Without holiness, which must be built upon the foundation of love, no-one
will see the Lord.
14 Strive to live in peace with everybody and pursue that consecration and
holiness without which no one will [ever] see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14 AMP)
Love is the foundation of the bride (singular) for whom Jesus is returning.
True, spiritual unity only comes through God given love, which is reflected
in righteousness and holiness in our lives.
Yes, God given love will bring unity to the bride of Jesus.
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10. LOVE IS THE KEY TO THE KINGDOM
This word is from Ron McGatlin of OpenHeaven.com, so you don't think
that 'only David' has these revelations of the kingdom.
Love Dissolving Limitations (The Next Move of God)
For some time now many of God’s people have been expecting another
great move of God. Prophets have been proclaiming it, often with an
accompanying statement something like this, “A great move is coming
that will bring great transformation, but we don’t know what it will look
like.” Some have heard clearly by the Spirit that this move would not be
like past moves that came like a wave and then later ebbed away. Each
move seemed to drift back where it had come from. However, each wave
left its mark upon the world. A fresh layer of restored truth and change
was left with the people of God.
Tabernacles, the move of God that will never end, is now coming
upon the earth. It is characterized by God within and among us. His
presence within us and among us is pure, holy, all-consuming love
beyond explanation and description. Our past life is dissolved in the fire of
His love consuming us. In an instant we are changed and are fully aware
that it is Christ now living in us by the Holy Spirit in this new place where
we abide. Pure holy love tabernacles or abides in and with us changing
everything.
Relationships change, situations change, what we could not do before now
seems to do itself. God’s love is power flowing into and out from us
dissolving walls and limitations. Barriers and boundaries are dissolved
effortlessly. Our hearts and minds are cleansed as love dissolves every
need that once drove us. All strife, bitterness, fear, and any other
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negative emotion or stress is dissolved in the power of His love. In the
unavoidable interactions with the abrasive and tragic fallen world around
us, we are strengthened to endure and come through unscathed in His
love.
This move of God is completely from God inside of us. This is not a
platform or pulpit move. It is a Spirit move inside the hearts of
God’s people that is totally changing us from within.
In the past moves, we may have thought that we were in great shape
with God and even did great works displaying natural and supernatural
gifts ministering powerfully to the people. However, in this new move,
only after this pure, holy, all-consuming love came in and cleansed us did
we realize that we had been still contaminated with stuff. When we
became cleansed in His love, we sensed the absence of all need in our
lives. This was the first time we saw what had been remaining in us. After
the stuff that had caused strife, disorder, and weakness amongst the
people left, we were able to then see that it had been there and love had
washed it away.
Our hearts are melted with the realization of His perfect love for us and in
us. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we are totally washed clean
by His purifying love. His pure holy love gushes into our spirits, souls, and
bodies. We are captive in His love.
False or outdated established structures within our hearts and lives are
dissolved instantly. Man-made structures of religious, social, and political
order around us will also be eventually dissolved in this never-ending
move of God’s all powerful love. His pure, holy, all-consuming love is
transforming His people to transform the world into the kingdom of God
on earth as it is in heaven. The perfect law of love fulfills all law and all
prophecy. All these structures will pass away, but His love and His
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kingdom will never end.
In this pure move of love, trust and faith are abundant – the heavens are
truly opened as we truly experience what it means to live and walk in the
Spirit. Access is opened to enter spiritual heaven and commute there and
back receiving of the resources of heaven to fulfill the work of establishing
God’s kingdom on earth in the hearts of His people first and then into all
aspects of the created world. All things are possible to the pure holy sons
of God abiding in Christ and Christ in us as one.
The word and the reality of God’s kingdom on earth are further opened
and unveiled to us. Mysteries are revealed as our spiritual senses are fully
opened to experience the reality of life in the Spirit with God continuously.
All pretension and veils are removed from our hearts and lives. We can
only speak the truth in love. We can only do and say what we see and
experience God doing. Our minds are at perfect peace and function with
greater clarity of understanding that derives its life from the one source of
the wisdom from heaven.
Brothers and sisters, we are in this world at this time in the providence of
God to become a part of the great move of God that will never end – the
move of His love transforming us and eventually this world to His pure,
holy, kingdom of heaven on earth.
Be consumed and lose your lives now for the sake of the love of God in
Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit and the gospel of His kingdom. Truly when
we seek only His kingdom, all things are added to us far beyond what we
may have thought that meant in the past. As we seek His kingdom,
heaven is opened to us in this season of the ushering in of this great
move of God on earth that will never end. There will truly be no ebb.
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He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.
(Matthew 10:39)
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My
sake and the gospel’s will save it. (Mark 8:35)
Love never fails, and His kingdom never ends.
Ron McGatlin
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CONCLUSION
Through the past 10 chapters we have considered many facets of 'love'. It
is impossible to do a fully comprehensive job, for the love generated by
and through God encompasses all - if we allow it to!
We need to have this personal revelation and experience of God's love
within us in order to live it out through our day to day lives.
Unfortunately, this is not a revelation or experience we can gain from
going to church on a Sunday, or seven days a week, for that matter. For
formal religion, as such, is based on theology. Our beliefs are what
separate us, denomination by denomination. Rules, both formal and
informal, are the glue that binds us together, into a particular church.
But the kingdom of God, both on earth and in heaven, is built on the
foundation of unconditional love, unconditional love of God and
unconditional love of others.
To enter the kingdom requires a personal 100% (fold) commitment to our
Lord Jesus Christ. To seek, hear and obey the voice of God in all that we
do. Let us again be reminded of the verse that is conveniently ignored by
95% of preachers, teachers and Christians alike.....
3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4
Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and
the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is
truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever
claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.(1 John 2:3-6)
Obedience to God's word, both written and as revealed through the Holy
Spirit (not a pastor, church etc.) is the key to having God's love dwell in
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us. We must emulate Jesus.
One of the greatest thrills of my life occurred one day as I was walking
down the road towards town and a complete stranger stopped me and
simply said, "I can see God shining out of you," before walking on. I was
flabbergasted to tell the truth!
Yet as the bride is made ready for the return of Jesus.....
Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for
the righteous acts of God’s holy people.) (Revelation 19:8)
..... this will become a more common experience as the robes of
righteousness, the robes of God's love, shine out of His chosen bride.
Are you; am I, willing to make the sacrifice of complete commitment to
our Saviour and Lord? Jesus is calling us today.